LG BH200 Blu-Ray & HD DVD Player

Turns out, LG seems to be readying its second HD DVD / Blu-ray standalone player for a fall release, and unsurprisingly, it’s likely to be dubbed the BH200.

Plays Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD high-definition disc formats with more than twice the resolution of standard DVD discs.

In the player itself was the HD DVD of Superman, and it looked as good as expected.

We subsequently got our hands on that player, the BH100 Super Multi Blue, and we found it an intriguing but frustratingly incomplete solution.

One of the biggest news items to emerge from last year’s Consumer Electronics Show was LG’s announcement of a dual-format deck that could play both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs.

Although it comes up short on some audio features, LG’s new do-it-all player provides reliable handling and high-quality video.

The Samsung dual player is also 1.0, which really doesn’t make sense since if they have the hardware to meet HD DVDs requirements then the hardware should also support BD 1.1.

Access to rich menus and extra features available from many Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs.

And with SimpLink control, all your LG products work together with ease.

Moving on to the nuts-and-bolts features, the player passes 1080p/60 video signals through an HDMI 1.3 connection, and it can also upconvert regular DVDs to that format.

Allows for convenient control of other LG SimpLink products using the existing HDMI connection.

LG’s sizable remote control lacks backlighting, but its keypad has a clean layout, with frequently used buttons all orbiting around the menu-navigation buttons at its center.

The unit also includes multiple inputs/outputs such as HDMI 1.3 out, component/composite video outputs, digital optical and analog audio outputs as well as a LAN Ethernet port for network interactivity.

Play both Blu-ray™ and HD DVD™, all in jaw-droppingly clear full HD 1080p.

The new Super Blu Player incorporates LG’s SimpLink connectivity solution, enabling easier control of other LG SimpLink compatible equipment.

With full networked interactivity available from selected HD DVDs, and the capability to handle networked “BD-Live” interactivity in forthcoming Blu-ray discs, it is the latest available technology that plays both disc formats.

$1000 is WAY out of touch with where the market is right now for stand alone players and these will not fly at that price.

It has the same chip as the Toshiba XA2.

The BH200 also is equipped with a USB Media Host for easy access to digital music and photo libraries.

If both have same price tag, of course LG is better because we could clearly see it in CEDIA, BH200 seems to have better picture quality both Blu-ray and HD DVD.